Some more photo questions.

I'll keep it simple: Get yourself a digital!

For the cost of around 10 films plus processing you could pick up a cheapish 2 or 3 megapixel Canon digital end of range model. I saw something like this on Amazon around January last, or check EBay etc.

Long exposures can be tricky even for the experienced. Digital gives you the freedom to experiment and through trial and error you will learn very fast indeed. The biggest plus is that you see your efforts immediately and then share with the rest of us here with just a few clicks.

I considering a purchase of a digital SLR, nothing too fancy though, can anyone tell me what the Fujifilm S5000 is like???

Ronan Newman

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Galway Astronomy Club

The Fuji S5000 is not an actual SLR, though the review I read said "SLR styling". SLR's, digital or film, mean a camera body and removable lens system which gives an analog optical path through the lens to the viewfinder. On a digital SLR you can only compose through the viewfinder and review an image on the LCD screen after the shot is captured. A digital compact such as the S5000 will allow you to compose through the viewfinder or LCD screen. The S5000 uses a small LCD inside the viewfinder to simulate a SLR type view. In reality this is like sticking your eye really close to a LCD, the downside being the resolution of this smaller LCD compared to looking physically through the lens.

I don't know how good the S5000 is but here are some pros/cons from one review I've read:

The S5000 is certainly worth a look -- just be sure to carefully compare it to the competition.

What I liked:

-10X optical zoom lens
-Supports add-on lenses; adapter ring (which doubles as lens hood) included
-Manual control of shutter speed, aperture, focus
-Great looking (if only it felt more solid)
-Low redeye
-Robust performance (except for my autofocus speed)
-AF illuminator (though it didn't seem to help much)
-Good frame rate in movie mode

What I didn't care for:

-Image quality could be better -- too noisy and over-compressed; Purple fringing, vignetting also noticeable.
-Slowest shutter speed available is 2 sec
-No guide in manual focus showing current focus distance
-No manual white balance
-Plastic body doesn't feel very solid
-No exposure info for photos in playback mode

And finally, some camera sites to check for reviews:

www.dcresource.com/
www.dpreview.com/
www.steves-digicams.com/
www.imaging-resource.com/

Thanks for that John, could you reccomend any Digital Camera under 400 euro which i could buy for astrophotography.

Ronan Newman

I recently bought a second hand canon D60 espically for astrophotography. The camera is very technical and I'm struggling through the manual. I have managed a couple of shots of the moon with a tripod and remote. But when I put the camera into the telescope with the t-ring and adapter it is almost impossible to focus the camera on anything through the telescope. Do I need some sort of lens for the adapter or what's the story?

Cheers

Sean

Hi Sean,

Mind me asking what make and size of telescope have you?